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Post by anansi on Jun 1, 2010 21:47:26 GMT -5
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 11:58:49 GMT -5
Leo Fobenius did us the service of presenting the voice of the Soninke from their grand epic Dausi parts of which no doubt retain accurate history from as far back as the Akjinjeir stage of the Dhar Tichitt/Tagant civilization circa 450 BCE.
Could the Fasa of the following tale (Gassire's Lute) be a geo-ethnonym recalling the Fezzan whence the Libyco-Berbers/Garamantes before their assumption of trade and politics with the civilization and cultures slightly north of and directly between the Niger and the Senegal?
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:00:18 GMT -5
GASSIRE'S LUTE
Four times Wagadu stood there in all her splendor.
Four times Wagadu disappeared and was lost to human sight; once through vanity, once through falsehood, once through greed, and once through dissentation.
Four times Wagadu changed her name. First she was called Dierra, then Agada, then Ganna, then Silla.
Four times she turned her face. Once to the north, once to the west, once to the east and once to the south.
For Wagadu, whenever men have seen her, has always had four gates: one to the north, one to the west, one to the east and one to the south. Those are the directions whence the strength of Wagadu comes, the strength in which she endures no matter whether she be built of stone, wood and earth, or lives but as a shadow in the mind and longing of her children.
For really, Wagadu is not of stone, not of wood, not of earth. Wagadu is the strength which lives in the hearts of men and is, sometimes visible because eyes see her and ears hear the clash of swords and ring of shields, and is sometimes invisible because the indomitability of men has overtired her, so that she sleeps.
Sleep came to Wagadu for the first time through vanity, for the second time through falsehood, for the third time through greed and for the fourth time through dissension.
Should Wagadu ever be found for the fifth time, then she will live so forcefully in the minds of men that she will never be lost again, so forcefully that vanity, falsehood, greed and dissension will never be able to harm her.
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:01:24 GMT -5
GASSIRE'S LUTE (pt 2)
Every time that the guilt of man caused Wagadu to disappear she won a new beauty which made the splendor of her next appearance still more glorious.
Vanity brought the song of the bards, which all peoples (of the Sahel/Savanna) imitate and value today.
Falsehood brought a rain of gold and pearls.
Greed brought writing, as the Burdama ("Tuareg") still practice it today and which in Wagadu was the business of the women.
Dissension will enable the fifth Wagadu to be as enduring as the rain of the south and as the rocks of the Sahara, for every man will then have Wagadu in his heart and every woman a Wagadu in her womb.
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:02:03 GMT -5
GASSIRE'S LUTE (pt 3)
Wagadu was lost for the first time through vanity. At that time Wagadu faced north and was called Dierra. Her last king was called Nganamba Fasa. The Fasa were strong. But the Fasa were growing old.
Daily they fought against the Burdama and the Boroma ("Fulani"). They fought every day and every month. Never was there an end to the fighting. And out of the fighting the strength of the Fasa grew.
All Nganamba's men were heroes, all the women were lovely and proud of the strength and the heroism of the men of Wagadu.
All the Fasa who had not fallen in single combat with the Burdama were growing old. Nganamba was very old. Nganamba had a son, Gassire, and he was old enough, for he already had eight grown sons with children of their own.
They were all living and Nganamba ruled in his family and reigned as a king over the Fasa and the doglike Boroma. Nganamba grew so old that Wagadu was lost because of him and the Boroma became slaves again to the Burdama who seized power with the sword.
Had Nganamba died earlier would Wagadu then have disappeared for the first time?
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:07:01 GMT -5
GASSIRE'S LUTE (pt 4)
Nganamba did not die. A jackal gnawed at Gassire's heart.
Daily Gassire asked his heart: "When will Nganamba die? When will Gassire be king?"
Every day Gassire watched for the death of his father as a lover watches for the evening star to rise.
By day, when Gassire fought as a hero against the Burdama and drove the false Boroma before him with a leather girth, he thought only of the fighting, of his sword, of his shield, of his horse.
By night, when he rode with the evening into the city and sat in the circle of men and his sons, Gassire heard how the heroes praised his deeds. But his heart was not in the talking; his heart listened for the strains of Nganamba's breathing; his heart was full of misery and longing.
Gassire's heart was full of longing for the shield of his father, the shield, which he could carry only when his father was dead, and also for the sword which he might draw only when he was king. Day by day Gassire's rage and longing grew. Sleep passed him by.
Gassire lay, and a jackal gnawed at his heart. Gassire felt the misery climbing into his throat. One night Gassire sprang out of bed, left the house and went to an old wise man, a man who knew more than other people.
He entered the wise man's house and asked: "Kiekorro! When will my father, Nganamba, die and leave me his sword and shield?"
The old man said: "Ah, Gassire, Nganamba will die; but he will not leave you his sword and shield!
You will carry a lute. Shield and sword shall others inherit. But your lute shall cause the loss of Wagadu!
Ah, Gassire!"
Gassire said: "Kiekorro, you lie!
I see that you are not wise. How can Wagadu be lost when her heroes triumph daily?
Kiekorro, you are a fool!"
The old wise man said: "Ah, Gassire, you cannot believe me.
But your path will lead you to the partridges in the fields and you will understand what they say and that will be your way and the way of Wagadu."
Hoooh! Dierra. Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:10:23 GMT -5
GASSIRE'S LUTE (pt 5)
The next morning Gaasire went with the heroes again to do battle against the Burdama. Gassire was angry.
Gassire called to the heroes "Stay here behind. Today I will battle with the Burdama alone."
The heroes stayed behind and Gassire went on alone to do battle with the Burdama. Gassire hurled his spear. Gassire charged the Burdama. Gassire swung his sword. He struck home to the right, he struck home to the left. Gassire's sword was as a sickle in the wheat.
The Burdama were afraid. Shocked, they cried:
"That is no Fasa, that is no hero, that is a Damo (a being unknown to the singer himself)."
The Burdama turned their horses. The Burdama threw away their spears, each man his two spears, and fled. Gassire called the knights.
Gassire said "Gather the spears."
The knights gathered the spears.
The knights sang: "The Fasa are heroes.
Gassire has always been the Fasa's greatest hero.
Gassire has always done great deeds.
But today Gassire was greater than Gassire!"
Gassire rode into the city and the heroes rode behind him.
The heroes sang, "Never before has Wagadu won so many spears as today."
Gassire let the women bathe him. The men gathered. But Gassire did not seat himself in their circle. Gassire went into the Belds. Gassire heard the partridges. Gassire went close to them.
A partridge sat under a bush and sang; "Hear the Dausi! Hear my deeds!"
The partridge sang of its battle with the snake.
The partridge sang: "All creatures must die, be buried and rot. Kings and heroes die, are buried and rot. I, too, shall die, shall be buried and rot.
But the Dausi, the song of my battles, shall not die.
It shall be sung again and again and shall outlive all kings and heroes.
Hoooh, that I might do such deeds! Hoooh, that I may sing the Dausi!
Wagadu will be lost. But the Dausi shall endure and shall live!"
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:22:49 GMT -5
Gassire's Lute (pt 6)
Gassire went to the old wise man.
Gassire said: "Kiekorro! I was in the fields. I understood the partridges. The partridge boasted that the song of its deeds would live longer than Wagadu.
The partridge sang the Dausi.
Tell me whether men also know the Dausi and whether the Dausi can outlive life and death?"
The old wise man said: "Gassire, you are hastening to your end. No one can stop you. And since you cannot be a king you shall be a bard.
Ah! Gassire.
When the kings of the Fasa lived by the sea they were also great heroes and they fought with men who had lutes and sang the Dausi.
Oft struck the enemy Dausi fear into the hearts of the Fasa, who were themselves heroes.
But they never sang the Dausii because they were of the first rank, of the Horro,
and because the Dausi was only sung by those of the second rank, of the Diare.
The Diare fought not so much as heroes, for the sport of the day, but as drinkers for the fame of the evening.
But you, Gassire, now that you can no longer be the second of the first (i.e.. King), , shall be the first of the second.
And Wagadu will be lost because of it."
Gassire said: "Wagadu can go to blazes!"
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:26:33 GMT -5
Gassire's Lute (pt 7)
Gassire went to a smith.
Gassire said, "Make me a lute."
The smith said, "I will, but the lute will not sing."
Gassire said: "Smith, do your work. The rest is my affair."
The smith made the lute. The smith brought the lute to Gassire. Gassire struck on the lute. The lute did not sing.
Gassire said: "Look here, the lute does not sing."
The smith said: "That's what I told you in the first place."
Gassire said: "Well, make it sing."
The smith said: "I cannot do anything more about it. The rest is your affair."
Gassire said: "What can I do, then?"
The smith said: "This is a piece of wood. It cannot sing if it has no heart.
You must give it a heart.
Carry this piece of wood on your back when you go into battle.
The wood must ring with the stroke of your sword.
The wood must absorb down-dripping blood, blood of your blood, breath of your breath. Your pain must be its pain, your fame its fame.
The wood may no longer be like the wood of a tree, but must be penetrated by and be a part of your people.
Therefore it must live not only with you but with your sons.
Then will the tone that comes from your heart echo in the ear of your son and live on in the people,
and your son's life's blood, oozing out of his heart, will run down your body and live on in this piece of wood.
But Wagadu will be lost because of it."
Gassire said, "Wagadu can go to blazes!"
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:28:34 GMT -5
Gassire's Lute (pt 8)
Gassire called his eight sons.
Gassire said: "My sons. today we go to battle. But the strokes of our swords shall echo no longer in the Sahel alone, but shall retain their ring for the ages.
You and I, my sons, will that we live on and endure before all other heroes in the Dausi.
My oldest son, today we two, thou and I, will be the first in battle!"
Gassire and his eldest son went into the battle ahead of the heroes.
Gassire had thrown the lute over his shoulder. The Burdama came closer. Gassire and his eldest son charged. Gassire and his eldest son, fought as the first. Gassire and his eldest son left the other heroes far behind them. Gassire fought not like a human being, but rather like a Damo. His eldest son fought not like a human being, but like a Damo.
Gassire came into a tussle with eight Burdama. The eight Burdama pressed him hard. His son came to help him and struck four of them down. But one of the Burdama thrust a spear through his heart. Gassire's eldest son fell dead from his horse. Gassire was angry. And shouted. The Burdama fled. Gassire dismounted and took the body of his eldest son upon his back. Then he mounted and rode slowly back to the other heroes.
The eldest son's heart's blood dropped on the lute, which was also hanging on Gassire's back. And so Gassire, at the head of his heroes, rode into Dierra.
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:30:19 GMT -5
Gassire's Lute (pt 9)
Gassire's eldest son was buried. Dierra mourned. The urn in which the body crouched was red with blood. That night Gassire took his lute and struck against the wood. The lute did not sing. Gassire was angry. He called his sons.
Gassire said to his sons, "Tomorrow we ride against the Burdama."
For seven days Gassire rode with the heroes to battle. Every day one of his sons accompanied him to be the first in the fighting. And on everyone of these days Gassire earned the body of one of his sons, over his shoulder and over the lute back into the city. And thus on every evening, the blood of one of his sons dripped onto the lute. After the seven days of fighting there was a great mourning in Dierra. All the heroes and all the women wore red and white clothes. The blood of the Boroma, apparently in sacrifice, flowed everywhere. All the women wailed. All the men were angry.
Before the eighth day of the fighting all the heroes and the men of Dierra gathered and spoke to Gassire:
"Gassire, this shall have an end! We are willing to fight when it is necessary. But you in your rage, go on fighting without sense or limit.
Now go forth from Dierra! A few will join you and accompany you. Take your Boroma and your cattle.
The rest of us incline more to life than fame. And while we do not wish to die fameless we have no wish to die for fame alone."
The old wise man said: "Ah, Gassire! Thus will Wagadu be lost today for the first time."
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Sillat Hoooh! Fasa!
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:32:50 GMT -5
Gassire's Lute (pt 10)
Gassire and his last, his youngest, son, his wives, his friends and his Buroma rode out into the desert. They rode through the Sahel. Many heroes rode with Gassire through the gates of the city. Many turned. A few accompanied Gassire and his youngest son into the Sahara.
They rode far: day and night. They came into the wilderness and in the loneliness they rested. All the heroes and all the women and all the Boroma slept. Gassire's youngest son slept.
Gassire was restive. He sat by the fire. He sat there long. Presently he slept. Suddenly he jumped up. Gassire listened. Close beside him Gassire heard a voice. It rang as though it came from himself. Gassire began to tremble. He heard the lute singing. The lute sang the Dausi.
When the lute had sung the Dausi for the first time King Nganamba died in the city Dierra; when the lute had sung the Dausi for the first time, Gassire's rage melted; Gassire wept. When the lute had sung the Dausi for the first time, Wagadu disappeared-for the first time.
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
[to be concluded]
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Post by Tukuler al~Takruri on Jun 2, 2010 12:35:14 GMT -5
Gassire's Lute (pt 11 -- conclusion)
Four times Wagadu stood there in all her splendor.
Four times Wagadu disappeared and was lost to human sight: once through vanity, once through falsehood, once through greed and once through dissension.
Four times Wagadu changed her name. First she was called Dierra, then Agada, then Ganna, then Silla.
Four times she turned her face. Once to the north, once to the west, once to the east and once to the south.
For Wagadu, whenever men have seen her, has always had four gates: one to the north, one to the west, one to the east and one to the south. Those are the directions whence the strength of Wagadu comes, the strength in which she endures no matter whether she be built of stone, wood or earth, or lives but as a shadow in the mind and longing of her children.
For, really, Wagadu is not of stone, not of wood, not of earth. Wagadu is the strength which lives in the hearts of men and is sometimes visible because eyes see her and ears hear the clash of swords and ring of shields, and is sometimes invisible because the indomitability of men has overtired her, so that she sleeps.
Sleep came to Wagadu for the first time through vanity, for the second time through falsehood, for the third time through greed and for the fourth time through dissension.
Should Wagadu ever be found for the fifth time, then she will live so forcefully in the minds of men that she will never be lost again, so forcefully that vanity, falsehood, greed and dissension will never be able to harm her.
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
Every time that the guilt of man caused Wagadu to disappear she won a new beauty which made the splendor of her next appearance still more glorious.
Vanity brought the song of the bards which all peoples imitate and value today.
Falsehood brought a rain of gold and pearls.
Greed brought writing as the Burdama still practice it today and which in Wagadu was the business of the women.
Dissension will enable the fifth Wagadu to be as enduring as the rain of the south and as the rocks of the Sahara, for every man will then have a Wagadu in his heart and every woman a Wagadu in her womb.
Hoooh! Dierra, Agada, Ganna, Silla! Hoooh! Fasa!
=-=-=-=-=
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Post by anansi on Jun 2, 2010 21:09:24 GMT -5
Al~Takruri thank you very much for the link and the post that was a quality thread in of it self. For those who don't know the epic hearkens back to very ancient Ghana it is a glimpse of that largely unknown civilization mostly known to us through the eyes and reports of foreigners or a colored spot on the West African part of the map..copy and bookmark it please for those of us in education this would be a great chance to introduce an African epic in class. I will copy and paste some of the ruins and features of that civilization from the link. Swiss Archaeologist Digs Up West Africa's Past
Simon Bradley, Swissinfo January 16, 2007
A Swiss led team of archaeologists has discovered pieces of the oldest African pottery in central Mali, dating back to at least 9,400 BC.
The sensational find by Geneva University's Eric Huysecom and his international research team, at Ounjougou near the UNESCO listed Bandiagara cliffs, reveals important information about man's interaction with nature.
The age of the sediment in which they were found suggests that the six ceramic fragments discovered between 2002 and 2005 are at least 11,400 years old. Most ancient ceramics from the Middle East and the central and eastern Sahara regions are 10,000 and between 9-10,000 years old, respectively.
"At the beginning, the very first piece we found stayed in my desk drawer for years, as I didn't realise how old it was," Huysecom told swissinfo.
Huysecom heads a 50 strong interdisciplinary team, composed of 28 international researchers mainly from Germany, Mali, Switzerland, France and Britain on the largest current archaeological research project in Africa, entitled "Human population and paleo-environment in West Africa".Significant findings
Since the launch of the project in 1997, the team has made numerous discoveries about ancient stone cutting techniques and tools, and other important findings that shed light on human development in the region.
But the unearthing of the ancient fragments of burnt clay is one of the most significant to date. Huysecom is convinced that pottery was invented in West Africa to enable man to adapt to climate change.
"Apart from finding the oldest ceramic in Africa, the interesting thing is that it gives us information about when and under what circumstances man can invent new things, such as pottery," he explained.
"And the invention of ceramic is linked to specific environmental conditions the transformation of the region from desert into grassland."
Grasslands
Some 10,000 years ago, at the end of the ice age, the climate is thought to have fluctuated between warm and cold periods. This led to the formation of an 800 kilometre wide band of tropical vegetation extending northwards from the Sahel region, which attracted people who slowly moved north from southern and central Africa.
Wild grasses and pearl millet started sprouting on the former desert land. But for man to be able to eat and properly digest the new plants, they had to be stored and cooked in pots.
"Man had to adapt his food and way of life by inventing pottery," said the Geneva professor.
The invention of ceramic also coincided with that of small arrowheads also discovered by the team and which were probably used to hunt hares, pheasants and other small game on the grassy plains.
To date, East Asia the triangle between Siberia, China and Japan is the only other area where similar pottery and arrowheads have been found which are as old as those in West Africa, explained Huysecom.
"This is important, as they both appear in same way, at the same time and under similar climatic conditions, which indicates that man has certain modes of adaptation to cope with environmental changes," he commented.
Ahead of the final publication of the team's research findings this year, Huysecom is returning to Ounjougou to rejoin his colleagues, in particular those from West Africa "who are extremely proud of the discovery".
He plans to scour the region for caves and other settlement sites to try and find out exactly where the pottery came from so as to determine more precisely the age of the fragments.
"We know [from the sediment] that they are at least 11,400 years old, but they could be 50 or even 1,000 years older."
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A cultural flow, from the southeast of Subsaharan Africa and to the Sahara, could explain the diffusion of the microlithic industries all the way through West Africa. We observe them initially in Cameroon at Shum Laka (30,600-29,000 BC), then at the Ivory Coast in Bingerville (14,100-13,400 BC), in Nigeria in Iwo Eleru (11,460-11,050 BC), and finally in Ounjougou (phase 1, 10th millennium BC).
The Beginning of the Holocene in OunjougouCourtesy of Myra Swinger..posted at E/S
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Post by anansi on Jun 2, 2010 21:22:15 GMT -5
Think of these elegant old ruins when you read the epicThis is as close to what I put out before, but not exactly, I wished we had a way of keeping them from disaspearing. More to come hold tight , my IPad slow as hell.
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